Process op and apparatus fob distillation of oil from oil shale



1N VENTOR /W BY ATTORNEY 'l H., B. KHPPER PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTILLATION OF OIL FROM OIL SHALE Filed Aug.

wcmkmmw Patented Aug. 28, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

HERMAN B. KIPPER, OF MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTILLATION OF OIL FROM OIL SHALE.

The recovery of oil from shale has been carried on successful eriod in Scotland.

Application filed August 2, 1923. Serial No. 655,168.

ly for a considerable n the United States,

although large shale deposits exist in many Statesv and ssibly some commercial operations have een conducted, no extensive recovery of tablished. The

oil can be recovered from the shale,

course, recovery covery,

pumped other hand,

' chief difficulty that co of the oil from their low oil content,

even though th from considerable depths.

it is my contention that the nfronts the recovery oil from shale hasever been esfact that only about 20% of renders commercial competition or difficult against petroleum Well ree oil may have to be On the natural shales is not due to but rather to the fact that the requisite stills or apparatus of necsary efficiency h The ob'ect to provi e an as not existed.

apparatus,

of my invention is, therefore, whereby I can carry out my new process of distillation of Which consists in that the oil from shale,

shale is first finely groun heated still or converter in W ing fed therethrough, volving hammers,

caking7 and p The ground organi the distillation into an externally chamber from which th and distillation drawn off and the latter con Whicl d, then fed to a hich, While beit is treated by rei keep it from ossibly grind it even finer.

c residue together With.

products are then passed heated dust or separation e inorganic material products are subsequently a direct or indirect condenser.

The apparatus for carrying out this process is illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanying erence parts,

section of the ap section on line 2-2 of characters denote Fig. 1.

densed in either drawing in which similar refcorresponding and in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal paratus and Fig. 2 a cross The still or converter comprises a drum or (glinder A, which is conne through flue s C, C.

cted to a furnace Heavy fuel furnishes heat, preferably as a producer gas to the furnace.

verter is `a rotary driven through shaft d2 from a D is hollow to form p for cooling purposes.

gears d, d', suitable source.

Centrally mounted in the conshaft D Which may be and a driven The shaft assages D for Water Externally this shaft is suitably insulated as at D2 the major part of its length, the insulation D2 being preferably envelope d by a metal covering Fixed on the shaft D at intervals aremetal discs E supporting longitudinal rods F from which by means of iron bars Gr are suspended guiding hammers G extending longitudinally through the apparatus and preferably bevelled, so as to offer less resistance to the material contained in the converter A. The end Walls or heads H, H -of the c linder are rotatively mounted but not iigi 1y connected to cylinder A and are operativel connected to a driven shaft I. These en Walls or heads H, H are slowly rotated and carry. a set of preferably evelled bars K, which travel near the interior wall of A and serve to prevent cakiiig of the material.

'I he shale, after being finely ground, is charged into the converter yA throu h a spiral conveyor L or other means. While it is being fed through the converter, it is treated by the hammers G revolving with great speed, several hundred revolutions per minute. Thereby the shale'is ground to a f of 300o to 500 C., but there is no reason Why' a somewhat Wider range of temperatures might not be employed, such as 7 00 C., dependent on the character of the shale. EX- ternal heat may also be employed to the converter A or the latter may be merely insulated. After the requisite reaction temperature has been reached air alone, or a mixture of air and other heated gases, may be passed into cylinder A. The heated gases pass through the spray of oil shale in the cylinder. The heat of combustion of the oil shale then tends to maintain the necessary distillation temperature throughout the apparatus.

M denotes a discharge passage leading from the cylinder A into a dust or separaexternally heated as at N', in any suitable manner. The chamber N is provided with a discharge passage O, Which may have a helical worm O and which serves to lead off the inorganic material. It is also provided With a passage P through which the distillation products may be drawn off by suction and conveyed to a suitable condenser D Q. in which it may be condensed.

ico

4tion chamber N. The latter is insulated or The grinding hammers used may be sha d in any suitable manner.

moe the apparatus and the parts thereof may be modified in various ways, for instance several shafts. with hammers might be used in place of one, without departing from the principle of my invention, I do not wish to restrict myself to any of the details described and shown.

The process and apparatus has also been successfully used for the distillation of the by-products from coal. In the case of oil shale, I have mostly employed finely ground stone and oil, thoroughly mixed and compressed and which I call artificial shales.

As noted there are two sets of bevelled bars extending longitudinally through cylindcr A.. One set 1s supported from the rol tatable heads. The other set is carried from rods F by means of intermediate metal pieces G. The fiat sides of bevelled bars K ie approximately at a right angle to a line drawn to the center of shaft D, whereas the flat sides of bevelled bars G lie approximately at an angle of 45 to a similar line. In the first case the edges of bevelled bars K cut away any adhering material from the wall of A whereas in the` second case bevelled bars act as hammers or beaters of the reaction material. The outer ends of the flat bars G are also bevelled at an angle of approximately 45 to the axis of the driving shaft, so as to oifer little resistance to the material contained in the cylinder A.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a. process of distillation of the oil constituents from oil shale in a closed chamber, the step of passing heated gases through the finely yground oil shale to produce distillation of the organic constituents of the shale, the ste of simultaneous mixing and further subdividing of the shale and the ste of removing the material from the wa ls of the distillation chamber.

2. In a process of distillation of the oil constituents from oil shale in a closed chamber, the step of passing heated gases through the inel ground oil shale to produce partial combustion yof the organic constituents of the shale, the stepdof simultaneous mixing and further su ividing of the shale and the step of removing the material from the walls of the distillationchamber.

In a process of distillation of the oil constituents from oil shale in a closed chamber at the` temperature of 300 to 700 C., the step of passing heated gases and air through the finely ground oil shale to produce partial combustion of the organic constituents of the shale, the ste of simultaneous mixing and further su ividing of the shale and the step of removing the material from the walls of the distillation chamber.

4. In the herein described -process of distillation of the organic constituents from shale in a closed chamber having openings and outlets for gases and solid materials at the temperature of 300 of feeding the finely ground shale to said chamber, the step of passing heated gases and air through the finely ground oil shale to produce partial combustion of the organic constituents of the shale, the ste of simultaneous mixing and further subividing of the shale, the step of removing the material from the walls of the condensation of the distillation products and the removal of the residual inorganic products through the lower exit of the distillation chamber.

5. In an a paratus for carrying out the herein described 'process of distillation, Aa chamber heated by the assage of highly heated gases and by air which produces partial combustion of the organic constituents passing throughsaid chamber, rapidly revolving hammers therein adapted to simultaneously mix and subdivide the material fed through said chamber, said hammers being in the form of longitudinally extended fiat bars, the outer edges of which are bevelled, a central rotary hollow internally cooled shaft extending longitudinally through said chamber and from which said hammers are suspended, a second set of bevelled bars located near the internal periphery or wall of said chamber, and rotatable heads closing the ends of said distillation chamber and carrying said second set of bars, the latter being adapted to remove the material from the walls of said chamber.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

HERMAN B. KIPPER.

to 700 C., the step, 

